’I don’t get it. Why would something like this be included?’ Qi Suian wondered, looking at the out-of-place Sacred Artifact he had obtained from the Lion Scorpion Beast Sandton’s Jigsaw Sacred Artifact.
It was called Stage Star: The Sweet Voice of a Star.
Using it would make one’s voice exceptionally melodious.
In other words, this was the source of the Lion Scorpion Beast’s sweet, enchanting voice.
If it were up to Qi Suian, he would have preferred an ability like Language of Fear or an intimidating vocal presence, not some damn sweet, enchanting tone.
The Lion Scorpion Beast’s appearance was, after all, truly monstrous. A fearsome voice would have maximized its strengths.
’It couldn’t have been trying to play up some kind of contrast, could it?’
Still, the enchanting ability was undeniably powerful. A moment of inattention was all it took to fall prey to it—a truly unexpected weapon.
The only catch was that you’d have to practice Silent Meditation most of the time. Otherwise, everyone would find out, and they’d be prepared for it.
"This thing... it might be useful." An idea struck Qi Suian. He usually ignored oddities, but something *this* bizarre felt like a stroke of fate.
The main reason was that within his Plague Disease set modules, both the Holy Orchestra and the Cursed Psalms were related to sound.
After installation, there was a good chance it would transform into a module Qi Suian needed.
"Perfect. I’ve already burned through the last batch of Sacred Artifacts." Qi Suian glanced at the Tai Sui God’s armor rating. It had already reached 83, completing two evolutions.
It had even accumulated a significant amount of extra percentage-based evolution energy.
The group he had wiped out earlier was centered around a School Officer, but it included more than just that rank.
That’s why he had managed to seize so many Sacred Artifacts.
Which was how he had accumulated so much evolution energy.
But as Qi Suian looked closer, he noticed something was off. ’Is something wrong with the percentages?’
[Yes. After the Tai Sui God evolves, the percentage of evolution energy gained from Sacred Artifacts decreases.]
"What a shame. At least it’s still percentage-based." From the surplus energy, Qi Suian deduced that the contribution from a native Sacred Artifact had dropped from 4% to 3%.
’That’s not so bad. I can live with that.’ Thirty-four native Sacred Artifacts would be enough for the Tai Sui God to evolve once.
This was still an acceptable rate. No matter how much worse it got, it was still better than struggling on his own.
Besides, the Sacred Artifact World wasn’t short on Sacred Artifacts.
He was certain this world represented a golden age for the Tai Sui God’s evolution.
He then installed "Nightingale Alley: The Noble’s Grief" and "Stage Star: The Sweet Voice of a Star" as modules into the Tai Sui God.
"AI Brain, do you think the Xuan Empire and the Eternal United States have something like ’Jigsaw Recipes’ for Sacred Artifacts?"
"Otherwise, why would such strange combinations exist?" The thought suddenly occurred to Qi Suian as he was installing the modules.
Take Harrington’s Divine Judgment, for instance. It was so powerful because of the Choir Sacred Artifact.
Under normal circumstances, who would randomly choose a Choir Sacred Artifact that doesn’t align with such a thunderous, destructive power?
’They must have chosen it because they knew something.’
And then there’s Sandton. The "Sweet Voice of a Star" in his Jigsaw Sacred Artifact was also completely out of place.
Barring the possibilities that he was deliberately trying to get himself killed or was just delivering a gift to me, the most likely explanation is that this Sacred Artifact was meant to combine with others to produce some kind of qualitative transformation in his Jigsaw Sacred Artifact.
[That is highly probable. However, such information is likely monopolized and protected. One would need to reach a certain status to gain access to that knowledge.]
The AI Brain confirmed Qi Suian’s suspicion.
"This is making me want to raid their database more and more." Qi Suian narrowed his eyes. "Sandton’s status wasn’t low. Now that I’ve killed him, the trouble ahead will be even greater."
’I can’t stay in the Eternal United States any longer. I have to leave as soon as possible.’
"But before I go, I’m going to pull off one last big job!" Qi Suian muttered, his gaze falling on the two newly installed modules.
[SSS·Plague Disease Preaching Priest]
[SSS·Plague Disease Church Choir]
The former evolved from "The Noble’s Grief." It could make the Yousui Virus’s transmission capability even more terrifying and enhance its ability to mutate, creating even more dreadful strains.
The latter came from "The Sweet Voice of a Star." Its effect was to enhance the range of the Holy Orchestra and the power of the Cursed Psalms. It also allowed the Shepherd Priest and Preaching Priest to combine, creating the specific, directed mutations Qi Suian needed.
All one could say was that the five Plague Disease set modules were truly complementary, unlike the "Newbie Player" and "Kindling" modules he had obtained before, which weren’t as interconnected.
’A shame. It’s still centered around the Holy Orchestra, so the limitations remain.’
"But there’s one question: once I leave the Sacred Artifact World, will the Plague Disease set combination still be this powerful?" Qi Suian pondered this.
In the Sacred Artifact World, his five-piece module set was estimated to be comparable to a Jigsaw Sacred Artifact assembled from fifty native Sacred Artifacts. They were SSS-quality modules, after all.
But its immense power wasn’t just due to the Tai Sui God’s modules; it was also amplified by this world, allowing him to kill enemies far beyond his level.
Otherwise, in a one-on-one fight, he would definitely be no match.
[Its power will inevitably decrease. Based on the Tai Sui God’s current number of evolutions and armor rating, it would have at most one-tenth of its current power.]
"It drops that much?" Qi Suian was shocked. He had expected it to be cut in half, not slashed down to a mere fraction.
[Yes. Its current immense power is likely related to the plague from the Book of Revelation.]
"That’s not good news." After a brief thought, Qi Suian let it go. "If worse comes to worst, I’ll just use it as a cultivation base for the Yousui Virus."
"With this many set pieces, I have a good shot at an SS-rank virus talent."
Qi Suian had no intention of figuring out how to improve his virus talent in the Sacred Artifact World. The war was still raging, and its effects were ever-present.
It made it difficult for him to settle down and focus on that kind of research. His research into Sacred Artifacts, however, was progressing rather well.
That was because all his research on Sacred Artifacts was applied to killing, and killing was a part of war.
Improving his virus talent, on the other hand, required long periods of peace—something completely at odds with the state of this world.
Even though Qi Suian could mitigate the worst of the war’s impact by dying and respawning every half hour, it was a temporary solution, not a cure.
It wasn’t a sustainable strategy.
Since it was like trying to row a boat against the current, and he wasn’t bound by a rule of ’regress if you don’t advance,’ Qi Suian simply chose to go with the flow.
He would focus on researching Sacred Artifacts for now. He could work on improving his virus talent when he reached a slightly more normal Doomsday World.
It was a decision born of necessity. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to fight the current—it’s just that going against the grain wasn’t easy.
"And besides serving as a cultivation base for the Yousui Virus, it can also be used for large-scale slaughter, replacing the Floating Cannons."
"Unlike the Floating Cannons, which decompose even their fuel."
"It might be less powerful, but in practice, the difference probably won’t be that great, especially in a densely populated Doomsday World."
"In fact, its killing efficiency would far surpass the Floating Cannons."
The Floating Cannons’ Ghost Energy Storm was an area-of-effect attack, but having to kill targets one by one was still a hassle for Qi Suian.
Using the Yousui Virus, amplified by the Plague Disease set modules, would be far more efficient and much cheaper.
[Reconnaissance network has detected an Eternal United States covert unit, the Seventh Execution Chamber, entering range.]
"That efficient, huh? Right... If I hadn’t ambushed and killed Sandton while he was teleporting, they would’ve gotten here even sooner."
"Then let’s just turn around and kill them," Qi Suian decided without a moment’s hesitation.
’Since I’ve decided to leave the Eternal United States anyway, I might as well strike first.’
"Perfect. As a covert unit, they must know what’s going on in the capital of the Eternal United States."
"If I want to raid that database, I’ll need their ’help’."
’It must be my protagonist halo at work!’ Qi Suian attributed it directly to plot armor.
What else could it be, his own merit? To be fair, his current strength was indeed a combination of his own hard work and luck.
But enemies coming to hunt him... ’Oh, wait. It seems I was the one who started killing indiscriminately first, and that’s what attracted them.’
Still, it wasn’t guaranteed to be the covert unit.
It could be the Extraordinary Army... they were hunting him too, they just hadn’t found him yet.
Otherwise, Qi Suian wouldn’t be sitting here so calmly. He’d be surrounded by a massive army, forcing him to unleash his Floating Cannons and go on a rampage.
As long as he didn’t mind burning through Sacred Artifacts that served as percentage-based fuel, everyone was equal beneath the Floating Cannons.
But precisely because he needed those resources to grow, he used the Floating Cannons less and less.
In the beginning, when he couldn’t protect himself, he used whatever tools he had. Now that he could, he preferred to keep his trump cards hidden.
He was saving them to catch his enemies completely by surprise.
-----------------
The Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber was named Sharp. He looked like a stubborn old man, and he stopped abruptly in his tracks.
"We’re being watched. It feels like one of the Xuan Empire’s Iron Armor Men," Sharp said, his expression grave.
His Jigsaw Sacred Artifact included an ability that granted him extremely keen perception.
The others, all wearing deathly grim expressions, halted as well.
As one of the Eternal United States’ covert units, the Seventh Execution Chamber specialized in purging the nation of various heretics and spies.
Mostly heretics, of course. Spies were much harder to find.
They were also responsible for "handling" individuals who performed poorly in the war but couldn’t be conveniently dismissed from their posts. Once they were dead, there was no need to worry about what to do with them.
And the Chief Judge was the highest-ranking officer in the Seventh Execution Chamber.
It was a position of great power and authority, but one that operated entirely in the shadows—a rather unique role.
Sharp had held this position for fifty years. It wasn’t for lack of people trying to replace him; they had all simply failed.
In terms of both strength and ability, he ranked among the top tier within the Eternal United States.
"Untraceable? What in the world is their Jigsaw Sacred Artifact? It has plague and disease, summoning, and now remote surveillance."
"With such a disparate set of abilities, how could the synergy possibly be high?" Sharp was utterly bewildered.
Based on what he’d displayed, this Iron Armor Man was definitely a figure from the Xuan Empire on par with himself. How could someone like that be so foolish in their choices?
He mentally scanned a list of the Xuan Empire’s mid-to-high-level personnel but couldn’t find anyone who fit the profile.
"All units, on alert! The enemy is here!" Sharp’s expression shifted. He could sense the enemy approaching, and they were moving incredibly fast.